Trudge
by Vicky-V
Summary: He smiles. It just takes certain situations. MiguelxTulio. Pre film. One shot.


**Pairing:** MiguelxTulio

**Rating:** G

**Warning:** Soft slash. Pre-film.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing in connection with The Road to El Dorado, nor do I make any money writing this fanfiction.

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**Trudge**

The pair of them had developed some good stamina, which was why they had been able to go through the life of cheating and stealing for some years without ever ending up in prison. It was essential for the art of escaping to be learned quickly and both had surprised themselves by doing so.

One of the most important things was to know the backstreets of Spain better than the back of their hands. It was a whole different world back there; mazes of streets so small sometimes it was hard for even one person to squeeze through them, squatting men in tatty blankets, whole clans of rats who looked as though they wouldn't be adverse to ripping off your foot if it remained still for long enough and dead ends where you always hoped there wouldn't be one. They knew that world inside out, so could think about where to turn and which holes to hide in without actually realising it at the time, therefore evade capture and arrest.

Of course, suspending all thought and trusting your feet to avoid the dead ends sometimes came with a downside. The Spanish police also had some good stamina between them and when they were being perused by one of those people it meant having to run a lot more.

This meant they sometimes ended up in some unexpected places.

None of them knew who had decided to hide some sort of garden near their town. They had just jumped over a wall and suddenly found themselves surrounded by vegetation. This at least meant some good hiding places.

"Maybe we jumped into some sort of void," Miguel mused out loud as they continued to trudge down the cobbled path, hoping it would lead back to something recognisable. Or at least another wall they could jump over to find something recognisable. Going back wasn't really an option seeing as it was the way the police had gone.

"Void?" Tulio asked, hoping he'd heard incorrectly. It was just his aching feet complaining and somehow affecting his hearing.

"Yeah, kinda like a whirlpool," said Miguel. "Only you don't die at the end. You come out in a strange place?"

"And you reckon that's how we got here?"

"Yup."

"We didn't just run so hard and fast we ran out of the place we usually know and into a neighbourhood we've never been to before because it's obviously better. Much better because it has huge gardens which we probably shouldn't be in anyway?"

"It's possible."

Tulio gave Miguel a sideways glance to see he was absolutely sincere about his void babblings. He dragged his eyes back to the pathway before him, which bent away around some bushes, which hopefully hid a wall and a way out, and sighed. "I wish I had your optimism."

"So do I," Miguel replied. "You might smile a bit more."

"I smile!"

He could see the sly edge Miguel's smile had taken on, was rising to the bait and knew it. All the same, maybe it would draw some attention away from the dull ache he could feel spread all over the bottom of his feet.

"Nu-uh."

"Ya-ha-" Tulio stopped his retaliation as he realised they were about to enter the sort of argument tactics they would use when they were eight years old. He cleared his throat, straightened up and attempted to smooth some dust off his jacket, but only really succeeded in making is dirtier seeing as his hands was still smudged with dirt from earlier.

He had just squared up his shoulders and held up his chin when it was all undone in one very undignified yelp as he suddenly found himself being yanked off his feet.

Once he regained some sense, he managed to splutter out; "Wha-?"

"Just cheering you up," Miguel replied, which sounded far too chirpy for Tulio's taste. It was around that time his mind completely caught up with the situation and he realised he was being carried in a way which he couldn't help but notice was commonly referred to as 'bridal style'.

"I smile," he repeated. "See." At that, he forced the corners of his lips up and hoped it looked convincing.

"Fake," Miguel replied, his voice still horrendously chirpy. "Cummon, you think I wouldn't notice. Give me _some_ credit."

By the time they discovered that a wall leading to a way out actually did exist and thanked the heavens for finally deciding to be nice, Tulio found he was smiling properly. Perhaps it was because he hadn't quite found it within him to try and get out of Miguel's arms.

_**END**_


End file.
